Sakura in the Springtime
by TsumetaiEyes
Summary: [Alt. universe, A&M] Aoshi meets Misao in a festival. He learns more about Misao and discovers that she is in danger. Please R&R, thanks!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: Rurouni Kenshin was created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. I don't own any of the characters, even if I wanted to. (Dream on!) I'm only borrowing them for entertainment purposes only!!

Author's Notes: Hi!! Another new fanfic idea. Please read and review. (NOTE: This is NOT a crossover fanfiction.)

Sakura in the Springtime:

Chapter 1:

It was late afternoon on a warm spring day, in Kyoto. The cherry blossoms are now at full bloom. A festival was about to begin.

"Onii-chan!!!" Two little girls called back to their 18-year-old brother. "Hayaku or we will miss the opening ceremonies for this year's Sakura festival," the seven-year-old Ayame explained wanting Aoshi to walk faster.

"Hayaku, hayaku, hayaku" chanted Suzume, who was five. She was over excited to be able to go to a festival without her parents around, and just with her brother and sister.

Ayame and Suzume continued to walk ahead. Aoshi ran to catch up to his sisters so they would stop complaining. If he pondered any longer, he will be having a harder time to look for the little ones in the crowd.

"Misao-sama" Omasu called. "When would you like us to pick you up?" She asked after dropping off Misao and her younger sister at the Sakura festival.

Misao looked down at Kisa. "When do you want to leave?" She asked her.

Kisa shrugged, as she doesn't have an answer. "Whenever..." she quietly mumbled.

"We'll call you when we want you to pick us up." Misao replied coldly.

"Hai!" Omasu nodded and went back into the car.

Misao held onto Kisa as they entered. There were a lot of people gathered and didn't want to loose each other in the crowd.

"Nee-sama," Kisa called. "What do you want to do first?" She asked Misao.

Misao shrugged and pointed to a shrine.

"Let's go then," Kisa walked towards shrine with Misao following behind. "My friend might be there..." She added.

Just before they got there, they spotted a field of Cherry Blossoms. Misao stopped walking.

"Nee-sama, what's wrong?" Kisa asked softly looking at up her 16-year-old sister.

"Nothing," Misao coldly replied to her 10-year-old sister, and continued walking towards the shrine.

"Onii-chan!!" Ayame called, stopping in front of a stand. "I want that red water balloon." She pointed into a stand where there were water balloons in a large bucket and needed to be fished out.

"Sure" Aoshi replied, getting a hook from the table and got a balloon out for Ayame.

"Arigatou!!" Ayame hugged Aoshi for getting it for her.

"I want one too..." Suzume pouted, seeing that her older sister got something nice and wanted one as well. She pointed to a blue/green one laying on the corner.

"Here you go," Aoshi spoke after picking up another water balloon for his other sister.

"Arigatou!" Suzume thanked Aoshi and ran away to show her older sister.

"Nee-sama" Kisa called seeing that her sister was walking away from the festival. "Where are you going?" She asked.

Kisa looked straight ahead and spotted a field of Cherry Blossoms. She looked sad.

"Kisa-chan, your friends are over there waiting for you. You should play with them." Misao suggested, not wanting to destroy the last of her happiness.

"Is it ok with you, nee-sama?" Kisa asked for permission. "I don't want you to be alone."

Misao nodded. "You go and play. Meet me here or in the Cherry field. You should know the place..."

Kisa nodded. _'That gives me about three hours...'_ She thought to herself, walking towards her friend, Tomoe, who was waiting for her.

Misao walked towards the field of cherry blossoms. _'How pretty'_ She thought to herself. Soon she found herself standing in front of this one cherry blossom tree, with two gravestones next to it.

Misao stared at the blossom petals floating around.

Flashback:

"Do you know why the sakura trees are pink?" A stranger asked. "They get their color from the dead corpse." He replied before walking away.

End of Flashback

A few minutes later, Kisa went to that same cherry tree and found her sister sitting under it on the opposite side.

"Nee-sama..." Kisa called Misao from behind.

Misao stood up and turned around. "I thought you were with your friend." She asked.

"I decided to find you." Kisa spoke sadly. "It's ok though, Tomoe's brother is around so she's not alone." Kisa walked closer to her sister.

Misao sat back down and Kisa took a seat next to her.

"Ka-sama, To-sama... they left us so early." Kisa started crying.

Misao nodded and pulled Kisa closer to her. "They died protecting us. You must understand that." Misao whispered.

Kisa dried her tears and stood up again. "To-sama, Ka-sama, We'll do our best to make sure you're proud of us." She stated firmly.

Misao stood up and kneeled down in front of her parents graves. Kisa moved closer and placed her hands on Misao's shoulders. "Nee-sama...arigato for being such a wonderful nee-sama to me." Kisa commented.

Misao nodded and got up. "I will stay with you no matter what happens." She promised.

"Ayame, Suzume." Aoshi called to his younger sisters. "You guys play around this shrine. I'll be back later."

"You promise?" Ayame asked, not wanting to be left behind.

"Aa." Aoshi responded. "I promise."

Ayame and Suzume ran to do some of their own sightseeing while Aoshi wanted some peace and quietness. He spotted the field of cherry blossoms which leads away from the festival.

Aoshi found himself walking close and closer towards the field. He found a comfortable tree and jumped up to sit on one of it's branches.

He leaned back and stared at the festival from afar. _'I like it here most'_ he thought to himself.

"It's been a while now" Aoshi thought, deciding to go back and find his sisters. As he jumped down from the branch, he spotted 2 girls standing alone in the open field.

Aoshi decided to walk closer to them.

"Nee-sama..." Kisa whispered to her sister, tugging onto the sleeves of her kimono.

Misao turned around and saw a guy walking towards them. He had black hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a plain tan colored gi.

Kisa hid behind her sister while Misao took out a handful of kunais.

"Who are you?" Misao spoke coldly, about to attack if he was to get any closer.

"Shinomori Aoshi." the guy spoke back, not afraid of the weapons in her hand. "I spotted you when I was sitting on that tree." He pointed to the tree he had been sitting on earlier.

"I suggest you go away or I will attack..." Misao defended herself.

"Well... I guess you do have your own personal matter to be acting like this." Aoshi commented, not wanting to frighten the two. "Just so you know... I'm not an enemy, if that's what you're thinking." Aoshi took a few steps back and began walking away.

Misao placed her weapons away. "It's ok Kisa-chan." Misao spoke softly. "I don't sense anything evil from this man."

Kisa finally let go of her sister.

"I'm Makimachi Misao." She introduced herself, just as the man was about to get farthur away. "This is my sister, Makimachi Kisa." She bowed formally as a way to apologizing for her rude actions earlier.

"Makimachi-san" Aoshi spoke. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing in a place like this?"

Misao stepped aside, displaying two gravestones placed underneath that cherry tree.

"Must be you're family, I presume," Aoshi stated feeling a little sad for the girls.

Kisa nodded. "Our parents," she slowly whispered with more unshed tears filling her eyes.

Misao held onto her sister. Aoshi got out a tissue from his pocket and handed to the girl.

"Arigatou" Kisa mumbled, taking it from him.

'Think of something,' Aoshi told himself, feeling sorry for them. "Do you two want to go yet?" He finally managed to ask.

Misao nodded. "Kisa-chan, we'll come back here on another day..." She told her sister, wanting to cheer her up.

Kisa turned around. Her eyes were still a bit red from crying. "Let's go..." She agreed with Misao.

Aoshi walked out of the Sakura field along with Misao holding onto Kisa.

"I'll be right back." Aoshi stated, wanting to get his sisters first.

Misao nodded and watched Aoshi walk away.

"Let's visit the shrine," Kisa suggested.

They stepped inside and threw a coin into the box and made a wish.

'I hope my sister and I will be safe.' Misao thought.

'I wish Ka-sama and To-sama can rest peacefully in a beautiful place above the skies.' Kisa thought.

A few minutes later, Misao and Kisa stepped out of the shrine and met up with Aoshi once again. But this time, there were two genki little girls with him.

"Makimachi-san" Aoshi called, as he spotted Misao and Kisa.

Misao and her sister walked towards to him. "Kon'nichi wa," The two little girls greeted with a bow.

"Kon'nichi-wa," Misao and Kisa greeted back.

"My name is Shinomori Ayame" the little seven-year-old girl introduced happily.

"This is my youngest sister, Shinomori Suzume," Aoshi introduced her, as she was too shy to introduce herself.

"Nice to meet you," Kisa spoke softly.

"I am Makimachi Misao, and this is my sister Makimachi Kisa." Misao introduced again.

"Hello, may I call you Misao-neechan and Kisa-neechan?" Ayame asked.

Misao nodded, saying it was ok.

"Onii-chan!!" Ayame called tugging on his gi.

Aoshi looked down seeing it was Ayame's doing. "Nani?" He asked.

"Would you please get us some ice cream?" She asked him.

"Ya, ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!!!" Suzume chanted, "I want some ice cream, too..."

"Hai, hai," Misao replied, overhearing their conversation.

"Makimacki-san" Aoshi called, trying to stop her. "I got it."

"Please, it's Misao, Shinomori-san." Misao replied, "And it's ok, I'll get it for them."

"I want chocolate," Ayame told Aoshi.

"I want chocolate, too" Suzume nagged.

Misao looked at Kisa. "Whould you like to have some?" She asked, knowing that her sister's too shy to ask.

"Vanilla" Kisa mumbled.

Misao nodded and walked away.

"Wait here, you three," Aoshi spoke looking at them. "Hai, we won't go anywhere." Ayame agreed and stayed with Suzume and Kisa.

While Aoshi and Misao were getting the ice cream, Ayame and Suzume were playing with their water balloon.

"Want to play with mine?" Ayame asked thoughtfully, seeing that she doesn't have one.

Kisa nodded and took hold of the water balloon. It was her first time seeing one.

"You like it?" Suzume asked her.

Kisa nodded shyly.

"When Aoshi gets back, I'll have him get one for you then." Ayame suggested.

"Iie, it's ok." Kisa responded, thinking it's quite rude to ask someone for something.

Aoshi caught up with Misao by the ice cream stand.

"So, what do you want?" Misao asked Aoshi. "I'll take vanilla," He told the man in the booth.

Aoshi quickly paid the man before Misao was able to take out her money.

"I'll pay you back, Shinomori-san" Misao taking out some money handing it to him.

Aoshi refused. "Keep it," he said, taking the ice cream back to the girls. Misao followed behind.

"Arigato" Ayame and Suzume said in unison as Aoshi handed them their ice cream.

"Arigatou gozaimasu" Kisa spoke softly taking the ice cream.

"Misao-san, this is yours," Aoshi handing her one as well.

"Arigatou." Misao replied taking it from him.

End of the Sakura Festival:

Misao, I must be going now, he spoke seeing that his sisters were getting tired.

Misao nodded. "We'll be going as well." She spoke heading off the other way.

"Ja na!" Ayame responded, "Misao-neechan, Kisa-neechan arigatou!! I had a lot of fun today."

"Misao-san, I hope we can meet again, someday" Aoshi spoke back.

Misao nodded and headed off the other way.

She had made a call home earlier and so Omasu was waiting for them a few blocks away from the festival.

"Nee-sama," Kisa spoke, breaking the silence between them. "Arigatou,"

"What for?" Misao asked in surprise.

"I really had fun today." She spoke looking down at her blue water balloon.

To Be Continued...

Author's notes: I know that it's usually Aoshi who is cold and emotionless. But I've decided to change a little of it around. Aoshi is still Aoshi, just not as cold. Misao however, she maybe cold and emotionless now, but wait until the end. .

I had planned to make 2 parts to this chapter as it was quite a long one, but I guess it just pack it all down to one. I kind of forgot to stop and the half way, so I just kept on going. bows Sorry if it took you too long to read. ;;

Name for Misao's sister was taken from my latest anime obsession. Fruits Basket. Still, the character is not mine, so don't sue!! Her character personality is pretty much based on the anime.


	2. Chapter 2

Standard disclaimers apply...

Author's notes: I'm actually updating… shocked Please read and review…

Spirit demon: Thanks so much for reviewing. I seems like you've read all my fanfics as of so far. I'm glad you like it.

Len: This fanfic will be Aoshi and Misao, as this is the only pairings I like to write about. You will find out what happens to Misao's parents in this chapter. I'm not telling.

Sakura in the Springtime:

Chapter 2:

End of Spring break:

"Kisa-chan," Misao called looking inside of her sister's bedroom.

Kisa turned around from her desk and noticed that her sister was standing by the opened doorway.

"You shouldn't be sleeping too late tonight." Misao commented, looking at a clock that was sitting on top of a drawer, on the bedside.

"Wagata." Kisa responded sadly, knowing that tomorrow will be a school day.

Misao walked into her sister's bedroom and took a seat on the sofa. Kisa was looking over her list of homework to make sure that she wasn't missing anything.

"Did you finish all your homework yet?" Misao asked watching Kisa packing her school bag.

Kisa nodded. "I just did."

"Something wrong?" Misao questioned, noticing that her sister was bothered by something.

Kisa walked over to Misao and sat down next to her. "I don't want to go to school tomorrow." she mumbled, looking down.

Misao wasn't surprised about Kisa's feelings. She had felt the same way. If it wasn't for her friends, Misao would've left long ago.

"It's bad enough that people are starting rumors about our family, but it's worst if we will just keep running away," Misao explained, trying to reason with her sister. "I promise you, I will not turn over the Makimachi Estate that easily to some no good loser out there."

"Demo, you will get hurt..." Kisa commented sadly.

Misao looked at her with a straight face. _'It's true, I may get hurt.'_ Misao thought to herself. "Don't worry," Misao told her sister. "I still have hope, and so should you."

"Hai!!" Kisa exclaimed and leaned closer to her sister. "Arigatou," She whispered into Misao's ears.

"Hmn... what for?" Misao questioned, pulling Kisa away from her.

"For being my nee-sama, of course." Kisa replied with a smile.

Misao nodded. "Arigatou." She responded and gave a hug to Kisa.

Misao got up. "Kisa-chan, you should get ready for bed." She reminded her.

Kisa nodded as Misao walked out of her room.

'I want you to be happy for as long as possible.' Misao thought closing the door behind her.

Misao wasn't about to go to her room yet. She still had work to take care of. She went to her office.

'Geez...' Misao commented staring at a pile of paper work that was carelessly dumped onto her desk. _'Oh well, I guess I'll need to get rid of them sooner or later...'_ Misao thought, staring at some paper that was on top of the pile.

Misao stacked up the papers in a neater pile so she would have room to write. _'It's not easy to keep up with an estate my parents had started.'_ Misao thought again, wondering why she's putting up with school and work at the same time, _'I want it to continue it's business for my parents...'_ Misao reminded herself over and over.

"Misao-sama..." Shiro called, knocking on her door.

"Come in." Misao responded, looking up from her computer screen.

Shiro opened the door. "Okina wants to speak with you tomorrow morning, is that alright with you?" He asked politely.

Misao nodded. "What time?"

"In the morning, before you go to school...I would presume." Shiro replied.

Misao nodded again, agreeing to meet with Okina, her parent's most trusted partner, and the one who helps take care of most of the business work these days.

Shiro left the room and closed the door behind him.

'All the more reason to get these things finished...' Misao let out a sigh and went back to clearing her paper work.

About an hour later, Misao went back to her own room and decided to turn in for the night, seeing that it was already past midnight.

I'll finish the rest of them tomorrow,' Misao reminded herself, setting the alarm clock.

The next morning:

Misao woke up at about five and turned off her alarm clock before it got to ring. She took a shower and got dressed into her school uniform. _'Kisa wouldn't be awake until about seven,'_ Misao thought to herself, walking into her office.

At about seven, Ochika, one of Misao's maids knocked on her door.

"Come in." Misao called back.

"Ohayo, Misao-sama..." She greeted, "Okina's in the living room waiting for you." She notified Misao.

"Hai..." Misao responded. "Let him know that I will be there in five minutes."

Ochika nodded and was about to leave.

She suddenly remembered a message that was from Omasu and was to be passed to Misao. "What do you want for breakfast?" She asked stopping by the door.

"Ask Kisa-chan..." Misao replied, as her attention was concentrated into finding something.

Ochika nodded and left her office. She went downstairs to the living room and gave the message to Okina. "Misao will be here in about 5 minutes." Ochika said.

Okina nodded. "I'll wait for her." He smiled gently, taking a seat on the sofa.

Ochika walked back upstairs and headed to Kisa's room. _'She must be awake by now...'_ She thought to herself, looking over at the clock.

Misao was in her office organizing her completed paper work and packaged it up in a vanilla envelope. She stepped out of her office and met Okina in the living room. She closed the doors for some privacy

"Ohayo" Misao greeted politely and handing him the vanilla envelope.

"Arigatou" Okina replied, taking it from her hands.

"Please sit." Misao gestured. "Was this why you had asked for me?" Misao asked, staring at the envelope she had just handed to him.

"Iie," Okina responded.

"Why did you want to meet with me this morning?" Misao questioned, getting right to the business, not wanting to waste time.

"I just want you to know that you should be careful." Okina stated.

"What are you implying?" Misao asked, staring at him.

"Just be careful and keep an eye out." Okina suggested. "You never know when those kind of people will show up again."

Misao nodded.

"And they _may_ show up at anytime unexpected." Okina added.

'He's right...' Misao thought, knowing that there's no argumentation there. _'The people who killed my parents may be anywhere.'_

"Well...I should be going..." Okina spoke, realizing that Misao still has to go to school.

Misao got up and was about to open living room doors for him.

"Breakfast is ready." Omasu called, to Misao, who opened the doors before her. "Oh...Sorry got interrupting." she apologized to Okina, with a slight bow.

"Iie... I was just about to leave." Okina stated, walking towards the exit. "Misao, will I'll be seeing you this afternoon?" He asked before leaving the Makimachi mansion.

"Iie..." Misao responded. "I'll be busy." she continued. "Gomen...I might be there tomorrow..."

Okina nodded. It was understandable that school work was enough to keep one busy enough for a while.

"Nee-sama... Ohayo." Kisa greeted Misao, as she spotted her walking into the dinning room. She had already begun eating her breakfast.

"Ohayo" Misao greeted back, taking a seat on the long table where the food was placed.

"You must hurry if you are to get to school on time," Omasu commented to Misao, since she was to leave the house in 15 minutes or she'll be late. Her classes starts at a quarter to eight.

Misao gulped down her breakfast and went to her room to get her book bag. Kisa was already in the car waiting.

When Kuro got to the school, Misao pulled the door open to get out. "Good Luck, Kisa-chan." Misao spoke back before closing the door.

Misao walked to the front of the school and many people were staring at her, giving her unnessacary glances. Misao paid no attention to them and walked to her homeroom.

At Tomoeda Elementary:

It was lunchtime and Kisa got out of her classroom. She waited in the hallway outside of the cafateria for her best friend, Tomoe.

"Look, there's a Makimachi. They act like they're so good and innocent, but I bet you that they're not." A group of guys stared at her and grinned, as they walked passed her.

"Ignore those losers." Tomoe commented, seeing that Kisa's attention was most concentrated on them. "What do they know?" Tomoe spoke again, getting Kisa's attention.

"Tomoe..." Kisa turned around looking sadly to her. "If you continue to hang with me, people will start talking about you, too." She warned, knowing that it was unnecessary for her to be dragged into her family's mess.

"Then let them talk," Tomoe spoke back with confidence. "They know nothing about you and just starts judging you from the rumors they hear. I've been your friend for so many years and I know far more than they do. I know you are a good friend." Tomoe responded, with a smile, as she has no intentions of betraying her best friend.

"Arigatou," Kisa mumbled, taking Tomoe's hand and walking through the cafateria doors.

At Kasshin High:

Misao was sitting alone in the cafeteria, during her free period to do her math homework for her next and last class, as well as some other homework for the next day, when a guy came up to her.

"You don't belong here, you know." He smirked.

Misao turned around to see who it was but he had already walked away, not begin able to see his face.

'Baka!' She screamed in her head, turning back to finishing up the rest of her homework.

"People should careless, if you know what I mean," Sae commented with a sigh, taking a seat next to her. She had just gotten herself some lunch.

"Yeah" Misao spoke softly. _'When will it ever end?'_ Misao mentally asked herself.

"Want some?" Sae offered, pointing to her lunch.

"Iie...I had something earlier." Misao said concentrating on her homework again.

At the end of the period, Misao finished most of her homeworks and got up. The bell was about to ring and the students were leaving the cafeteria.

Many students were hanging out side of the classroom staring at her. Misao felt uncomfortable waiting for her friend, Yukiko, as she usually would walk down that hallway. Misao walked into her classroom and sat in her seat, which was located in the back of the class. _'At least today's not that bad...'_ Misao thought to herself, taking out her books. _'But the day is still not over yet.'_

Three guys sat down in front of her. They passed her a note saying hateful words about her family.

Misao didn't bother to read it as she already knows what it was going to be about. She crumbled the paper and threw it in the trash can.

A few minutes later, Misao received another note. Same with the first one, Misao just threw it out.

At the end of class, Misao was the first to leave the classroom, as she had had it with those people. The sooner she gets out of the school, the less people were going to be in the hallway. As she hurried down a corner, she bumped into someone.

"Ahh..gomen nesai." Misao apologized, picking up her books that fell.

"Watch where you're going Makimachi!" the guy exclaimed. Eyes from every corner was staring at Misao, who was beginning to pick up her things.

The crowd gathered around. The guy walked closer to Misao, ready to start a fight.

Aoshi came out of his classroom and saw a crowd. _'What's going on?'_ he thought, hearing someone say that there's going to be a fight.

Aoshi walked into the crowd and saw a guy ready to attack a girl. He quickly jumped in front of her, and defended himself from the punch.

Misao was still sitting on the floor, looking down, as she didn't want to see all the people who had gathered around.

The crowd broke up as some still had to get to class. The guy walked away. "Next time, you won't be so lucky," he mumbled.

"Daijobu des ka?" Misao asked, who was still not looking up, but instead getting picking up her books.

"Aa...I'm ok." Aoshi responded bending down to help her.

Misao looked up at the person wearing black pants and a white button-down top, as his voice sounded quite familiar. "S-shinomori Aoshi!!" She exclaimed in shock.

Aoshi's eyes stared back at her. He too was surprised. "Kon'nicha wa," He greeted Misao, giving her a hand into picking up her things. "I didn't know you come to this school."

"Neither did I." Misao responded, remembering some of the events that occurred during the festival last week.

"Where are you hurrying of to?" Aoshi asked, thinking she still has a class.

"Home." Misao replied, as she wasn't in the mood.

"I'll walk you out." Aoshi offered.

"Don't get involved with me." Misao replied coldly, grabbing her books from his hands, and hurried down the stairs.

Aoshi got up and looked around. There were many people staring down that staircase Misao was taking.

'I see,' Aoshi thought, realizing that those people were staring at Misao all along, which had bothered her.

To be Continue...

Author's notes: Hello... I hope chapter is enough to hold for a while. I must get back to updating my other chapters. grins I like starting fanfics, yet I don't like continuing them. Weird..huh? I will start try to speed up my updates. PLEASE FORGIVE ME IF I DON'T MANAGE TO SUCCEED... begs with puppy eyes

I'm still deciding on my characters names and the characters I will be using in this fanfiction. It seems I will think of it as I go along. JA NA!!


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